Different way I find out to up my calories…...

FitnessLover001

So I have been working out and doing a lot of cardio, probably 65-80 minutes worth of cardio daily and have been eating at 1,200 calories. I eat all my calories back, but I eat to net at least 1,200, and my food in is near 2,000 calories. However the scale hasn't budged at all. I check my heart rate during cardio and it's always high and steady so I know I'm burning way over 600 calories daily. I've been eating right and healthy all these weeks.

Last Saturday night I went out and had a couple beers, woke up the next morning, the scale dropped a pound. Went back to eating 1,200 net this week and all healthy foods, and the scale went back up a pound.

Last night I went out and had floppy chips with spicy ranch dressing, as well as more beer. I woke up this morning, the scale dropped a pound again.

So I think, in a weird way, I've found that my body really does need more than 1,200 calories net. That's not an excuse to drink beer and eat unhealthy, but if I've dropped a pound by eating that food, which adds to way over 1,200 net, that means my body actually does need more than 1,200 net.

Kinda figured it out on my own….even though a lot of people already told me that.
I have 8 pounds to lose, and I'm definitely upping my calories.

Iknowsaur

Congratulations.
It's actually super refreshing to see a post like this!
It seems like you're really on top of things.

KellyS_86

So weird isn't it. I've just upped my cals too. I run a 10k at a time so about 600 cals. I think eating more when you work out more keeps that metabolism high and stops the body going into starve mode well done x

Branstin

Good for you!

Mischievous_Rascal

Happened to me, too. I now use this calculator to determine my calorie goal:

http://scoobysworkshop.com/accurate-calorie-calculator/

If you're activity is steady week to week, you can use one of the activity modifiers (light/strenuous/etc.) and then the total includes your exercise calories, so you would NOT eat them back. (This is what I do, but I like having just the one number to focus on. I'm in maintenance, too, though.) If you prefer to add on your exercise calories daily, use the "desk job" modifier. It's a much bigger number than I was expecting, but it's working out fabulously for me!

madhatter2013

Ok, I will say that it's great the you are finding that you need more than 1200 calories. That's a typical mistake all newbies make. However, I believe some will agree that it takes more than a week to see a trend with your weight loss. When you change what you're doing, you need to give it at least 4 weeks, maybe more, to see accurate trends. Just food for thought. I like that you realized that upping your calories to fuel your body is the way to go.

FitnessLover001

Ok, I will say that it's great the you are finding that you need more than 1200 calories. That's a typical mistake all newbies make. However, I believe some will agree that it takes more than a week to see a trend with your weight loss. When you change what you're doing, you need to give it at least 4 weeks, maybe more, to see accurate trends. Just food for thought. I like that you realized that upping your calories to fuel your body is the way to go.

I completely agree with you, however I'm not a newbie so I don't think it's just newbies that can make that mistake. I have been dead set and hard-headed on only eating 1,200 calories because that was what I thought the "golden number" was. I have found for myself though, that it's not. I only have a cheat meal a week, so I'm definitely going to up my calories on healthy foods

snowbunnyA

Remember, also, that alcohol has a diuretic effect, so it's possible it's simply shedding some water weight when you drink.

defauIt

The alcohol is acting as a diuretic to dehydrate you, you're just losing and gaining back water weight.

If you're not losing weight, you're not at a deficit.